Elitzur Netanya may not be contending for the Israeli league championship this year and in truth their main goal is to make sure that they do not get relegated as they are very early on in their first season back in the top division after more than a decade in the lower levels of Holy Land Hoops. However, after capturing their first win of the season at their brand new spanking Netanya Arena, in a victory over Hapoel Afula, perhaps the sky’s the limit for Idan Avshalom’s team.

 
Avshalom together with his his right hand man Ruben Najberger, who have both been with Netanya for a number of years have molded the club into one that as features a solid mix of young Israeli up and coming players along with both rookie and veteran imports in order to find the correct balance for the team to succeed. In the past, Netanya had the opportunity to be promoted from the Leumit League but opted not to make the move due to the arena not being ready and perhaps not even the franchise being prepared to take the next step as it continued to evolve.
 
However, with the new facility which is right next to the Netanya Stadium along with the opportunity presented to them, it was time for the yellow-and-black to make the move and change up their original concept just a bit in order to compete at the highest level in Israeli basketball.
 
With that, Avshalom went to work over the summer and brought back a number of Sabras that had played with the club in the second division but had first league experience. Roy Paretzky and Amir Aharoni fit that bill while Shachar Doron who had come through the Israel youth national team ranks and made a number of cameo appearances with Maccabi Tel Aviv last season were all inked to deals. Ariel Izaak and Ilay Dolinsky continued with the team from the Leumit as did a variety of other younger players that have been a part of the program for some time.
 
The big addition though among the Israelis was Itay Moskovits who moved from Ramat Gan to Netanya just before the season tipped off. There had been rumors over the summer that the young gun was going to head back to Netanya where he played back in 2020-21 before making the leap to the first league with Hapoel Galil Elyon but it looked like he was set to stay with Shmulik Brenner’s team. However, when it looked as though his minutes would be limited both in Europe and in Israel, Moskovits made his way to familiar territory this time as one of the leaders.

“I’m very happy to make the move to Netanya as I want to be a leader,” Moskovits said. “This didn’t happen in Haifa I felt the same with Ramat Gan where it just wasn’t going to occur and I didn’t want to waste another season. I wanted to show what I can do and I’m very happy to be here.”

Avshalom is also extremely content to have brought the guard back home and he can pair him up with Roy Paretzky just as they did back in 2020-21 but now both are starting to become young stars in the league and developing into just see attractions, “To see both Itay and Roy on the court together makes me even more happy than the victory itself. I’m even more excited than the previous game against Gilboa to see them in the Netanya uniform. When we were thinking about guards who would lead Netanya this offseason, we spoke about Itay and Roy playing together. They both played different roles in the past when they were with the club in the Leumit than what we expect now but regardless, when Netanya was in the second division we always gave young players the stage throughout all of the years. I am really enjoying watching them so much.”

Moskovits is thriller to be paired back up with Paretzky once again, “Paretzky is a very good friend of mine so I’m happy to be playing with him again and that is also the case with Amit Aharoni and Boris Boguslavsky who we all played together with Netanya when the team was in the Leumit League.”

There were a number of other foreign players with very little pro experience who were part of the preseason roster that included Carlos Marshall and Eric Romero who made good impressions but couldn’t help produce a single win. That made it abundantly clear that in order to be a serious player in the league, Netanya would need to find a veteran presence and a voice to be a positive influence on the squad.
 
Enter Cody Demps.

 
The 30 year old veteran swingman can play a number of positions, featured for Hapoel Beer Sheva a few years ago and also played for the G-League Ignite team where he was a role model for some of the young players who ended up entering the NBA Draft. That experience in itself for Avshalom will be invaluable and his impact both on and off of the court has already been felt in and around the club.
 
After just a few practices, Demps had his fingerprints all over the team as he helped Netanya pick up their first win of the season with a 20-point performance in a 92-84 win over Hapoel Afula to the delight of the fans, his teammates and coach.

“I played against Cody Demps when I was with Hapoel Galil Elyon,” Moskovits began. “He was Rami Hadar’s player, so that says a lot about him. He’s tough, gives everything that he can on the court and is a team player. He had about three practice sessions with us and in my opinion, from the first moment you are with him you can see that he is here to work hard but he is also sociable. He is physical and can guard several positions so with us missing some players there was no doubt that he made the difference.”

Avshalom also shared his thoughts about how Demps helps the team especially in terms of balance, “We saw just a bit of what a player like Cody Demps can do for our club and he provided balance to our team. We have an import rookie guard in Carlos Marshall along with Eric Romero who is also a newcomer, so Demps really helps balance the team out. They will all gain experience but when we get a number of injured players back we will be in better shape.”  

While it’s way too early in the season to know what happen in May and if Netanya will make the playoffs, that doesn’t mean it’s not the goal explained Moskovits, “I joined this team because I believe we can make the playoffs. I saw who the players are on the roster and while there are many injured and new players here, we had to start over anyways when I arrived late at the end of the preseason. We only really started proper practices this week. As someone who has been with several teams at this point, I can truly say that the way we work as a unit and practice is unlike any other team that I have been with.”

“The fans who came to the game at our brand new arena created a fantastic atmosphere,” Avshalom said. “Netanya is a soccer city but we really created an atmosphere here as we now have a real home. I want more people to come out and see us and whoever doesn’t secure a place now may not be able to see us in the playoffs.”

And that’s Avshalom’s goal all wrapped up nicely with a bow; a team that will compete, entertain and ensure that the foundation in place is one that will last for years down the road to provide the locals in Netanya an institution to be proud of. The pieces are coming together for Avshalom and there’s no question that with his know how and experience he will be able to take this project and meet his own expectations and those of his supporters.